


it's our time now (if you want it to be)

by SuperStitious18



Series: Darhkatom One-Shots [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 20:54:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17536079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperStitious18/pseuds/SuperStitious18
Summary: Nora Darhk is in love with Ray Palmer but she is certain he is still in love with his ex.She and Zari are sad together and Gideon is the biggest shipper of her humans there is.





	it's our time now (if you want it to be)

**Author's Note:**

> FINALLY. I've been working on this for forever!  
> So anyways, Hope you all enjoy!

Music was playing throughout the bridge of the Waverider, an amicable chatter underlying it, with plenty of alcohol going around for those who were inclined to partake in it. Meanwhile, Nora was watching Ray and Kendra chatting, a mixture of feelings making itself known inside of her. 

On one hand she was thrilled that Ray was reconnecting with an old teammate and an old flame at that. But on the other hand she was, for lack of a better term, a little heartbroken with how chummy they were. 

Sara had told her everything that happened between them, rather unthinkingly because she was excited to see the goddess herself. (Mick had told her he was sure the boss wanted to hit that, which was a rather disgusting thing to say about friends. It was Mick, she wasn’t too surprised in the end though.) So Sara didn't really take note of how Nora sort of deflated when she mentioned that she and Ray used to be a thing.    
  
Nora hung back, watching the two interact after the mission. They had fought side by side, almost scarily in sync. She was happy he was with an old friend but what if Ray wanted to be with Kendra again? They could easily pick back up where they left off if they chose to get back into it. What would be worse was if Ray decided to leave the Waverider to reconnect with her. 

What if he did? 

She gazed sadly at the group, where Kendra was being introduced to the new Legends. Nate was thrilled to meet her, excited to learn of her history of her reincarnations and what her past lives experienced. He had been babbling about it to Nora, happy someone would listen to him when in reality, while she cared, she was exhausted from the mission that had just taken place. 

They had been contacted by Carter, asking them for help to contain an ancient Egyptian power that seem to have gained power when Mallus was released from Hell. Apep, demon of the underworld had escaped and had been raining hellfire on modern Egypt, seemingly hellbent on revenge for whatever reason an old god decided he needed revenge. He had been set on claiming tribute and banishing the city into an everlasting night, he had almost succeeded too if it weren’t for the Legends finding an artifact with the power of Ra that held just enough left in it to banish Apep back to where he came from. 

Honestly, Nora didn’t like the fact he was a  _ giant fucking snake of all things. _ Milk snakes were cute, corn snakes were cute, hell even boa constrictors were cute, snakes the size  _ of skyscrapers were not cute.  _ She would rather stay the hell away from any and all reptiles the size of godzilla, avoiding all the mini heart attacks she got watching Ray fly around with two hawk gods trying to kick a pissed off god’s ass. 

Nora looked back to the group when a boisterous laugh broke her out of her musings. Her heart sank further when she saw how close Ray and Kendra had gotten while she was reminiscing. It seemed all the new Legends loved Kendra, all the old Legends certainly still did. 

Speaking of new Legends, she had no idea where Zari was. It was unlike her to miss out on the opportunity of a pizza party, especially when Gideon could fabricate anything they could want.  

Nora swallowed down her feelings, they could wait while she went to find out where her friend had disappeared to. “Gideon?” She asked, wandering the halls aimlessly to try and clear her head of all the static that seemed stuck there from a standard Legends party.

“Yes, Ms. Darhk?”

“Where’s Zari? I haven’t seen her since we got back on the ship.” Nora asked, sincerely hoping that she was okay, that they hadn’t missed something in the excitement of new/old friends and the chaos that was a celebration that was still going on. Well, if the dull bass of loud music rattling the walls even several rooms away was any indication. 

Wait, that wasn’t coming from the bridge. “I think I know where she is Gideon.”

“Ms. Tomaz is currently in her room, listening to music at volumes that are unsafe for most humans.” With Gideon sounding concerned, Nora set off towards her friend’s room. She passed Charlie who had apparently gotten stuck in the medbay, briefly she wondered if she should stop and help but Gideon assured her there was nothing to see. That was suspicious but she wasn’t about to argue with the AI who regulated the water temperatures and generally controlled all her day to day necessities. 

And so she stood outside Zari’s door, unsure if she should knock as the totem bearer might not even hear her over the sounds of… whatever it was she was playing at the moment. It sounded sad? She was unsure of it other than she was pretty sure she heard she heard violin sounds happening. Nora decided to just barge in, she readied herself to counteract whatever wind attack Zari would undoubtedly throw at her for startling her. 

Which is exactly what she had to do with how Zari threw a blast of wind at her, not realizing who it was due to the tears streaming down her face. “Zari? Geez, it’s just me. Wait, are… are you okay?” Nora’s concern ratched upwards, rushing over to see if she could console her friend/roommate while also ignoring her own feelings in the meantime. 

“Does it look like I’m okay?” Was the cracked response she got, Zari breaking down in sobs when the music got louder as if she were trying to drown them out to prevent herself from being heard. That was exactly what she was doing, she hadn’t wanted to be found like this by any of the Legends.

“I’m sorry, stupid question.” Nora murmured, opening her arms wide for Zari to bury herself in her embrace should she choose to take the opportunity. Thankfully, she did and didn’t leave Nora sitting there looking like a fool.

After what had to be a solid four minutes of crying, Zari seemed to calm down into sad hiccoughs, wiping her nose on her sleeve rather aggressively and making angry noises. “What’s got you so worked up?” Nora finally asked when it felt like she wouldn’t get her head bit off for asking the right question at the wrong time.

“Nothing, why aren’t you at the party?” Zari tried to deflect the situation back at Nora, really not in the mood to explain what got her all weepy. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her, hell, Nora was one of her closest friends and certainly the only one she might be able to open up about her problem to. Thing is she didn’t want to at the moment, so she went with her usual route of ignoring and hoping the issue would resolve itself.

“Don’t change the subject Tomaz.” Nora was hoping herself that Zari wouldn’t press, she wasn’t sure if she’d be judged for jealous feelings she had when she saw how close Ray and Kendra were. She certainly didn’t want Zari to catch on that she was sad because it wasn’t  _ her _ that Ray was paying attention to.

Zari scrutinized Nora, noticing she looked a little nervous. “Is this about Ray?” Nora’s cheeks burned a bright crimson confirmed every suspicion that she had. “I knew it!”

Nora shoved Zari out of her arms and back onto the floor, “You have no room to talk!” She was ready to tease her right back about her massive feelings for Charlie. The tension between the two had be mounting for  _ months,  _ even more so after the two had gone on that ridiculous journey of repairing the timeline that she had only heard about. Zari getting turned into a cat? That had been the most believable part of the whole tale. “You and Charlie  _ reek  _ of sexual tension!”

That teasing comment seemed to have the opposite effect of what Nora was hoping to achieve, instead of laughing and continuing the banter, Zari just seemed to wilt in both physical presence and just her entire being just seem diminish in that instant. “Yeah well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” She grumbled, a dark, bitter tone over taking her voice. 

That was not the woman any of them knew, because sure, she was sarcastic and often shady when it came to feelings, but never outright hostile to emotions. Nora was ready to stew on her own unrequited feelings later, she needed to know everything that happened between the two of them right here, right now.

“Talk to me?” 

“Yeah, sure. Nothing is going to be as humiliating as what I tried to do earlier.” She opened up, telling Nora about how after Charlie had been injured fighting against Apep earlier, Zari took her to the medbay so Gideon could heal the wounds and just check her out in general. The two seemed to have an intense heart to heart, where Charlie had shared to Zari that she wouldn’t be half the person she was now if it weren’t for how she constantly pushed her to be a better person. Zari had gotten emotional when she learned that Charlie had gotten injured because she was trying to protect her from a piece of debris that had been thrown in their general direction when Ray had been thrown into a building.

(Nora filed that piece of information away for later, even if there was no chance of Ray returning her feelings, she’d be damned if she didn’t check him out personally and make sure he was okay. It didn’t matter if he had the ATOM suit protecting him, he was still a soft, fragile human under that fancy piece of armory.)

She refocused on Zari, “And I kissed her. It was SO stupid Nora! She’s going to hate me.” Zari whimpered, wanting to burrow back into her best friend’s warm embrace. Nora grimaced, she wasn’t about to be much help because the object of her own affections was currently talking to his ex-fiancée and very, very unaware that she had any sort of romantic feelings for him.

“You think she doesn’t feel the same?” She asked instead of commenting for her to join the lonely single’s club. 

“I KNOW she doesn’t.” There was that bitterness again. “Just because I’m a good friend who’s helped her learn how to function doesn’t mean she magically has feelings for me.” 

Nora chewed on her lip, thinking of ways she could potentially help Zari out of the rut that she had worked herself into. “Well, If it helps, I don’t think Ray has feelings for me.” She was slightly concerned with how fast Zari’s head whipped towards her, a look of intense disbelief on her face. “What’s with that look? Also, is your neck okay, because you could have broken it with that.” Nora asked ratherly dryly, trying to draw her own defenses back up.

“You don’t think Ray has feelings for you? Are you blind, no are you stupid?”

“I came here to comfort you, not be insulted.” She glared at her roommate, she wasn’t either of those things. She had eyes, she could see Ray wasn’t interested, no matter how nice he was to her or how hard he fought for her freedom from the Time Bureau. He was just a good guy, he’d do that for any of his friends, right? “Besides, he’s pretty cozy with Kendra up on the bridge.” Nora said, her own angry, jealous feelings coming through.

The two women sat in silence, stewing on their feelings of unrequited love with company that would absolutely judge the other for being blind, but not judge them for believing that Ray or Charlie didn’t return said feelings. Honestly, Nora didn’t believe that Charlie wouldn’t like Zari. They may butt heads all the time and rile each other up until a fight breaks out, they never seem to go past an unspoken boundary line of what’s acceptable to tease each other about. 

Zari apparently decided that it had stretched on long enough, “Alright, if we’re really about to have this sorry party, then I’m going to go to the kitchen for snacks.”

Nora had to laugh at that, even when they were commiserating, Zari was always hungry. She supposes she doesn’t blame her for that, the woman had lived a long time on rations and sub-par food that made whatever Gideon made for them seem otherworldly. “Be careful, Charlie’s been locked in the medbay.” She paused for a moment, remembering the whole conversation the two had just had. “And it suddenly makes sense why Gideon told me to keep moving, she locked her in.” Nora’s amusement was evident, even dragging Zari into a fit that was sorely needed to try to alleviate the heaviness lingering from what they had just been thinking about.

“Gideon? Why is Charlie locked in the medbay?” Zari asked between her wheezing.

“You left in tears, Ms. Tomaz. I did not want her following you and making the situation worse.” Gideon sounded reluctant to tell them that. It was kind of sweet actually, how much the AI pretended she didn’t care but if someone messed with her Legends, then she’d make your life a living hell as long as you remained aboard her ship. Nora was certain she’d find a way to wreak havoc on your life no matter how hard you tried to get away.

“That’s sweet.” Zari sounded surprised, most likely thinking the same thing Nora had been. “I’m heading to the kitchen, can you go ahead and make donuts, please?” 

“Of course.”

Nora got up herself, wanting to stretch her legs before potentially settling in for a heavy session of them sharing their feelings. Maybe she could check back in on the party on the bridge, it was very likely no one missed her or noticed that she disappeared. Stranger things have happened aboard the Waverider, like the one time she saw Constantine doing yoga with Ava in the ship’s gym, which hadn’t been so bad to see but was just… deeply unsettling to see them getting along in any shape or form.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the steady hum of chatter that had been echoing down the hallway had gotten louder as she got on the bridge. The first thing her eyes were drawn to was Ray, standing closer to the Captain’s chair. He was engaged in a wild story with Kendra, his hands flailing around as he was apparently determined to tell her everything in one breath. It was one of his more endearing qualities, how he told stories that captivated anyone in the vicinity, it was certainly one of her favorites. Many nights she listened to him rattle on about previous missions, inventions he was working on, even listening to him talk about his childhood had been entertaining simply because it was Ray Palmer telling the story. 

It seemed innocent enough to her, maybe she could go up and introduce herself to Kendra as more than just Nora Darhk, daughter of Damien Darhk, witch and former vessel for an ancient time demon. It might even be nice to have friend who wasn’t always on the ship. 

So she started to make her way towards them, avoiding whatever Nate was doing with Ava, the two were nerding out over something she did  _ not _ want to get involved in right now. Especially when Ava was ranting about the best way to incapacitate someone twice your size, that wasn’t something she was particularly interested in at the moment. 

All she wanted was to be closer to Ray.

Nora stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the two of them burst into laughter, leaning against each other in a way that was so achingly familiar to her. That was how they held onto each other whenever Ray purposely made Nora laugh, he had told her it was because he liked it when she was so happy that she couldn’t quite support herself by herself. She thought it was their thing, even though they were just friends, friends weren’t supposed to share inside moments with others right? Had he lied to her when he said that she was the only one he had that bond with? 

Tears welled up in her eyes, she had to get out of there, quickly. Nora turned on her heel, scurrying away before anyone could see her breaking down, all thanks to her falling in love with a man who could never return those feelings she held. Of course he’d rather be with a goddess reincarnate than with someone as damaged as she was, she had nothing to offer him.

She was shaking uncontrollably by the time she got back to her room, she felt _so_ _stupid._

\------------------------

After Kendra had righted herself from her fit of hysterical laughter, Ray went on with his story. “No, The funniest thing about that was how  _ horrified _ Nora looked! She had gotten pancake batter everywhere and I do mean everywhere, it got on Zari! Who was at the table!” He took a moment to breath and giggle over the memory of the sheer panic that had been on Nora’s face. “I laughed after making sure she was okay, of course, and then she used her magic to throw batter at me!”

“She sounds wonderful, Ray. When do we get to meet your girlfriend?” Kendra asked as she curled into Carter, who came up with drinks for the both of them.

“Uh, she’s not my girlfriend.” He muttered, unable to meet their eyes, instead choosing to look at the floor sheepishly.

Kendra lit up, “You’re engaged? You could have lead with that. Congratulations! Now I really need to meet her.” She was happy for him, he deserved to have that life he dreamed of when they had been together. The nice house, the large family and a wife who was his equal in every way possible.

Ray blushed, “We aren’t together?”

“What? Dude, why not?” Carter stared at his drink, wondering if it was the special kind Sara liked to make. He seriously could not have heard Ray right.

“I agree with Carter, why not? You talk about her as if she makes the moon shine every night.” Kendra looked confused, she was sure that Ray had been babbling on for the past hour about his girlfriend and not just a friend.

Ray didn’t really have a good answer for them. “She’s… not interested?”

“That’s a lie!” The three of them turned towards Ava, she’d apparently been eavesdropping while Sara was bothering Nate and Gary about Time Bureau politics that Ava wouldn’t share. “Sorry for snooping, but seriously Ray? She’s extremely taken with you. Anyone can see it.” 

“Except for you apparently.” Kendra had been in love with him once, she knew that he would never, ever pressure a woman into a relationship. He was too damn nice to do that but he deserved happiness and it sure sounded like Nora was the one who had everything he was looking for, they weren’t even together. “Seriously, Ray? Just tell her.”

He hesitated, there was no way she liked him back. What if he told her and she just laughed in his face? She wouldn’t do that, she was far too kind to do that… Not to mention she was just amazing in every other way that could possibly matter to him. Ray knew he was in love with Nora Darhk, but also knew there was no chance he could tell her and it wouldn’t ruin their friendship.

“I swear on Beebo, Ray. If you don’t tell her, I will do it. She likes you back you idiot.” Ava glared at him, getting tired of this stupid dance they were doing around their feelings.

“Okay, okay, jeez. Even _ if _ she did like me, my relationships don’t exactly work out well.”

“And I’m sorry about that Ray.” Kendra piped up, looking truly sorry. “But that doesn't mean that you won’t find your true happiness with Nora. I haven’t even met her and _I’m_ half in love already! You fought for her when she was evil, why not fight for her now?”

Ray looked like he was seriously contemplating what she said. It made sense, he didn’t give up on her then, why should he give up on a potential relationship just because they might not work out? The more he thought about their “friendship”, the more he realized that they’d practically been dating, just minus all the typical romantic stuff added in. What if they added that in? That was what his dreams were made of, the two of them being a couple, holding hands, kissing and- 

He blushed a bright red at the thought of them having sex. If that happened, Ray might just die of happiness. 

“Well?” It was Carter’s voice that snapped him out of his less than pure thoughts about Nora Darhk in his bed. “You going to tell her, big guy?”

“Maybe. I need a minute to think.” His friends agreed to let him have his peace while it was now Ava’s turn to get interrogated by two reincarnated hawk gods about her intentions with Sara.

\-----------------------

“Listen, Just because any hope for love and romance I had died ten minutes ago, doesn’t mean you have to let what you and Charlie could have slip away.” Nora managed from her spot curled into Zari’s side, the two of them sipping apple juice. Not Nora’s first choice in beverage to numb the pain she felt but Zari probably had the right idea anyways, no alcohol so they could just be sadistic and feel the pain properly.

Zari rolled her eyes at Nora being so melodramatic again. “Look, I’m sure whatever you saw wasn’t Kendra hitting on Ray. It could be something else entirely!” She’s been trying to convince her of that for the past eight minutes since Nora calmed down from all the crying she’d been doing. 

“Yeah and I’m not the daughter of an insane, mass-murdering magician.” She spat out bitterly, tucking her knees closer to her chest so she could be smaller. Nora certainly felt small in this moment, heartbroken and unable to see any sort of hope for the future she wanted. 

“What?”

“Thought we were tellings lies.”

“Oh my god, Nora.” Zari groaned, almost wishing she did drink just so she could erase that from her memory. “I’m just saying, maybe you should talk to him!”

“When you talk to Charlie, maybe.” Nora stuck her tongue out at Zari who scowled at her being so childish and overly defensive.

“Which will be sooner than you think. Charlie is on her way to your quarters, Ms. Tomaz.” Gideon’s voice interrupted their bickering, inciting panic to flash across Zari’s face. 

No sooner than she had said that, Charlie was at the door, looking shy and nervous which was definitely not her usual look. The former shape shifter was looking directly at Zari, as if she were the only person in the room, the only person who mattered at least. 

“I’ll uh leave you two to talk.” Nora stretched before getting up and positively fleeing despite Zari’s protests. Charlie must have done some pretty fast talking for Gideon to allow her to reach Zari unharmed, so Nora was almost  _ betting _ that they were going to have a big feelings talk.

Now she was left without a place to hide from the Legends, most of all where she could hide from Ray. She didn’t feel comfortable hiding out in another bedroom and she certainly wasn’t about to monopolize the only bathroom they had. The small gym would no doubt be in use, Nate usually got drunk and liked to try and bet everyone he could bench press more than anyone else. The library? No thank you, too many bad memories of walking in on John doing yoga. Same with the Captain’s office, that’s where Sara and Ava liked to go make out and just… no. 

That left the medbay and the lab. On one hand, the lab would be a likely place for someone to find her, particularly Ray since he’d been working on his suit before he’d been dragged off to party. It would also be the perfect place for her to fuel her apparent need for pain, being surrounded by the things Ray loved. Being surrounded by memories of the two of them hanging out, often times he’d be tinkering and she’d be reading or watching him, delighting in how his hands worked on various inventions.

She decided the lab then, letting herself inside and heading over to Ray’s suit. Of course she’s heard the story of why he made it, of why he became the ATOM. He didn’t want anyone else to go through the pain of losing a loved one like he had, feeling guilty for living when Anna died had helped pushed him to become the hero he was now. 

Ray Palmer was too damn nice. He loved with all of his heart, he loved everyone with all of his being. She’d mistaken his friendship, she’d fallen in love along the way and made a fool of herself. He was in love with someone else, he had to be. 

Nora sagged into Ray’s favorite chair, how could she face him again, knowing what she knew now? It would be embarrassing to even look at him, let alone trying to talk to him. He would try to make it less awkward, at the very least let her down easy before saying he wasn’t interested in her. Nothing he could say would make her feel better.

She had to get away. She had to leave the Waverider, put some distance between herself and Ray, let her feelings cool down before she could be friends again. Would Gideon let her borrow the jump ship to go somewhere else? She could bring it back before anyone noticed she’d left, right? Maybe Gideon would help her fabricate a few provisions first since she couldn’t go back to her room while Charlie and Zari were talking.

Where would she even go? She didn’t want to go back to her old job, it had been horrible and it would only remind her of when Ray broke that creep’s phone with his bare hands and almost speared him with his own sword in her defense. That had to be one of her favorite memories however and probably the start of when she really started falling for Ray Palmer. 

That was it. She needed to go. Nora got up to head to the fabricator room, “Gideon? Would you please make a few things for me?”

“Of course, Ms. Darhk. What can I do for you?”

“Well, clothes and a dufflebag.” The AI didn’t respond, hopefully she would listen and help her so she could get away. 

Did she want to leave things open? Ray deserved a goodbye at least, didn’t he? Maybe she could get some closure too while she was at it, because if nothing else, the time she’s had aboard the ship with him has been the best. Time she wouldn’t trade for anything in the multiverse. She deserved closure as well, deserved to hear he wasn’t interested so she could get her heartbroken and move on properly.

She collected the duffle bag from the fabrication room, stuffing it full of the clothes she requested that Gideon make. “You can pilot the jump ship back, right Gideon?” Nora directed that to the ceiling even if she didn’t have to. 

“I can. Where do you need to go? When can we expect you back?”

Nora hesitated. “I don’t know, it could be… it could be a long time.” She didn’t plan on coming back honestly, especially since this was going to go poorly. Nora continued folding clothes into her duffle, she really shouldn’t be too concerned. It wasn’t as if she was trying to preserve a wedding dress, she never would, no matter how much she had dreamed she could be wearing one someday. Maybe she could have with a certain tech genius if he wasn’t in love with someone else.

No sense in thinking about what ifs anymore. She didn’t even know if she could tell Ray goodbye to his face, she could live with her decision without telling him in person. Call her a coward but she just couldn’t. “Gideon? Will you tell Ray goodbye for me?” Without waiting for a response, Nora left the fabricator room and started towards the jump ship.

\--------------------- 

“Mr. Palmer.” Gideon’s voice cut through the din of the small party, music shutting down for her to talk. “I recommend you get to the jump ship quickly. Ms. Darhk is planning on leaving.”

Panic gripped him, Nora was going to leave? Just like that? Without a reason or a goodbye, leaving Gideon to tell him when he inevitably found out? Ray had to get her before she left, he had to tell her he loved her. She couldn’t leave without knowing and she definitely wasn’t about to leave without him. He would follow her wherever, whenever she wanted to go. It didn’t matter, as long as it was them versus the universe.

Ray didn’t wait any longer, he took off in a mad dash to go get his girl and he’d be damned if anyone or anything stopped him. 

\------------------------

Nora heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway, coming quickly too so whoever it was had a mission. Her mind subconsciously recognized them as Ray’s but she refused to turn around until she reached her destination. If she saw him, she’d lose any nerve she had worked up the past half hour. She’d melt into him and stay if he so much as suggested that she do so. She couldn’t stay, she just couldn’t.

“Nora! Nora, please wait!” She heard him shout breathlessly, coming to a heavy stop behind her when she paused at the entrance to the jump ship. “Are you okay? Gideon said you were leaving, why?” He sounded freaked out, he couldn’t be  _ that _ concerned over her departure could he?

Also, of course the stupid AI ratted her out. “I’m fine, just need to get away.”

“Without telling the Legends? Without telling me?” She shut her eyes tightly, trying to will away the tears forming at how his voice cracked. Ray sounded so incredibly hurt, as if her hiding something from him was the worst possible thing. As if her leaving was the worst possible thing…

She didn’t have an answer to that and still refused to look at him. “Nora? What’s going on? Why won’t you look at me?”

_ ‘Because if I do, I’ll say how madly in love with you I am. My heart will be crushed when I see the look on your face as you let me down. If I look at you, I won’t think of anyone else, certainly not myself because all I want it you.’ _ Nora couldn’t tell him that. 

“Please don’t go. Or take me with you!” He pleaded with her. 

That… had not been what she was expecting when he found her. Take him with her? What about Kendra? She turned around looked at him, ignoring the sharp intake of breath he took in favor of asking, “What?”

“If you go, take me with you. I want to be wherever you are, because you’re-” Ray paused again, taking in a shaky breath and fidgeting with his pockets for a moment. Hope swelled inside her, surely he couldn’t be…? “You’re my best friend, Nora.”

Her face fell at that, that wasn’t what she was expecting. “You’re my best friend too.” Nora didn’t know what she should have expected, it wasn’t like he was going to say he loved her and wanted her instead. Zari was wrong. “But I don’t want to be best friends anymore Ray. I did something stupid, I fell in love with you.” She saw shock plain as day coming from him. “I said I love you and all I want is for you to be happy, but you’re in love with someone else. It hurts but if she makes you happy, then I’m not going to get in your way. I-I’ll leave. Because I need time to get my heart back together.”

Ray couldn’t believe what he was hearing, Nora spilling out her feelings for him. She had feelings. Romantic feelings. For him.  _ For him! She loved him too!  _

“You love me?” His voice came out in a hoarse whisper, still in disbelief.

“Yes. And it’s okay if you don’t love me, I saw how you were earlier.”

“What? With Kendra? No, no, no, Nora. We loved each other once but she’s with Carter. They’re soulmates and married.” He told her. “I think we forgot to tell you, what with having to deal with an angry Egyptian God and all…”

Well, that ruled out one thing. “Oh.” She squeaked out, leaning against the bulkhead behind her for support. 

“Besides, I’m not in love with her. I love you, Nora.” Ray boldly declared, approaching her slowly as to not startle her. “I love you, I’m  _ in _ love with you, I don’t want anyone else. Ever since we met, I felt something for you. I fell for you hard in Berlin and I… I just really, really love you.” His face was bright red now that he was close to her, close enough for her to bring him down to her level and kiss him.

She could. He loved her? He  _ loved _ her. A bright smile overtook her face, “Me?”

Ray nodded, happy that she was happy. Hopefully she’d stay with him now. He really wanted to kiss her now, would she mind? Nora did love him. He could ask her instead of debating and staring at her. Or he could ask and still look at her because she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, “Can I kiss-”

Nora had enough of waiting and yanked him down to her level and connected their lips in a firm, first kiss. 

Ray made a muffled noise a surprise before relaxing, placing his hands on her hips and drawing her closer. He didn’t want her going anywhere but with him, maybe to his room if this continued the way he thought (and hoped) it was going. 

When they finally separated, albeit reluctantly, there was a silence between them. A comfortable one as they still couldn’t believe their best friend was in love with the other. “I don’t want to stop.” Nora admitted. “I want more with you, everything with you really.”

“I want everything with you too.” He wanted to shout for joy, he didn’t want to hold back the happiness that was threatening to burst out. “Can we go talk somewhere more private?”

A wicked smile spread across Nora’s lips, “You just want me all to yourself, Mr. Palmer.”

He blushed, “Maybe. Plus, I kind of want to get away from here. I really don’t want to think about you leaving.” He really didn’t, because if she had left before he reached her in time… But he had, thankfully, so he didn’t have to worry about a life without Nora quite yet.

Ray shook his head, no he didn’t have to worry about that. All he had to worry about was that Nora was leading him, her hand in his, to his room where they could talk. If she wanted, he would love to do a little less talking after they had a real, adult discussion. 

No matter what happened in the next few minutes, they both chose to bask in the bliss of their love.

\-----------------------

Nora woke up slowly, feeling content and blissed out as she snuggled further into the warmth pressing against her back. Arms tightened around her waist, bringing her even closer. 

That’s right. She and Ray had confessed how they felt to each other last night. They were in love, last night they had made love, which reminded her why she felt pleasantly sore and the slight stinging on her neck and chest from love bites. Oh, he had been so hesitant to leave those but she insisted, accidentally scratching his back up in the process. (Nothing her magic couldn’t fix in her opinion.)

Her musings were interrupted by Ray’s arms loosening from around her waist for him to roll onto his back. The back of one of his hands remained touching her, as if even when sleeping, he wanted to know she was still there. Honestly, she’d love to stay and wake him up with an encore of how last night went, but she was kind of hungry and really had to pee at that.

Nora stole his shirt that he’d been wearing last night and her underwear, which thankfully had survived Ray Palmer ripping her clothes off. She hummed, slipping into the shirt before sneaking out of the room so she could hopefully be back before he woke up. 

She practically floated down the hall, content and happy. The results had gone way better than she could have ever dared to  _ dream _ of, Nora felt euphoric. All thanks to Ray Palmer. 

Perhaps she should thank Gideon as well. The nosey AI had sent Ray after her and she had apparently had a hand in whatever happened between Charlie and Zari…

Speaking of, Nora found Zari leaning on the counter near the food fabricator, sleepy and holding a steaming mug of hot chocolate. She was similarly dressed to Nora, underwear and a long sleeved shirt sporting a random punk band. So her night went just as well as Nora’s did and she had something to tease Zari about by the dark marks sporting her own neck. 

“I see your night went as well as mine.” She broke the silence, only after getting coffee and a donut herself. “Those are decidedly  _ not  _ your clothes, Ms. Tomaz.”

Zari glared at her for being chipper. “You’re the one to talk Ms. I’m Drowning In Ray Palmer’s Shirt.” She teased her back, taking a long sip of her hot cocoa. 

Nora looked pleased rather than offended at that. “I woke up in bed with a beautiful man, sue me for stealing his shirt and being happy.”

“Maybe I will.” Zari stuck her tongue out at Nora, she returned the favor. “Besides, I’m guilty as charged myself.”

Yeah, she was curious about that. How did they go from Nora fleeing the room to the morning after what had apparently been some  _ very satisfying _ sex for them. “So, spill.”

“Only if you tell me what happened that you and Ray ended up all gross.” Zari scrunched up her face at the thought of the two of them being ‘gross’ as she called it. “Well, after you left, Charlie told me what she said to Gideon to get her to be let out of the medbay after I ran.”

Nora looked eager for this sort of gossip, if it could be called that actually. Zari was her best friend, she was nosey and really wanted to make sure Charlie wasn’t out to hurt her. “Which was…?” She prompted Zari when she had decided to go for a dramatic pause.

“Charlie told Gideon, and I quote to,  _ ‘Let me out you bloody robot, I need to tell her that I love her too.’ _ Apparently that worked, she let Charlie out and even directed her to where I was.” Zari looked incredulous, like she couldn’t believe that it was real even now. Nora understood that feeling perfectly well. “So she did, tell me I mean when she found me. She got on her knees in front of me and declared her love for me.”

“She did  _ not _ . That’s way too dramatic for her.” Nora gasped, that was entirely too romantic of a thing for Charlie to do.

“She did! I swear on Beebo! Gideon, tell her.” Zari looked to the ceiling, begging her for some backup.

“That is, in fact, what Charlie did.” 

“Okay fine, maybe she did do that, what did you do after?” Nora asked, curious to know what Zari said afterwards. She didn’t meet her eyed as she took a long sip of her drink, a blush steadily making itself known on her cheeks. “Oh my god! You just went for it?!”

“And what if I did? I told her I loved her and then got to business! She didn't mind, in fact she participated a lot!” Zari protested, attempting to defend herself from Nora’s incredulous laughter and teasing remarks.

“Gross! I don’t need to hear about your sex life!” 

“Well, I can  _ see _ the after effects of yours! Don’t think I didn’t see you walking funny!” Zari teased her, reaching out to poke Nora in the stomach.

After that small amount of teasing, their banter died down to a comfortable silence. They basked in the quiet humming of the Waverider, enjoying the company of their best friend and their hot drinks. 

A thought seemed to strike Zari, the way she suddenly perked up and turned towards Nora, “So how did you and Ray go from you crying on our floor to you doing the walk of shame to the kitchen?” She asked, watching her friend intently for the answer.

“First off, I had a good night of  _ great _ sex, so we don’t shame here.” That pulled a laugh from Zari as she agreed with Nora there. “Second off, I was just going to leave because I had been so sure he was in love with Kendra.”

  
“Boy, Never been so glad to be wrong?”

“I was thrilled to be wrong. So Gideon ratted me out that I was going to leave and apparently, Ray just books it from the bridge to find me.” The fact he didn’t want her to leave without her knowing that he loved her was a big romantic gesture she didn’t know she needed. (She loved it and the only thing she would have done differently would have been the whole tears and self pity ordeal she went through to get there.) 

“He would.”

“He did! He was so worried that I was leaving without saying goodbye, not so much that I was leaving.”

“Without saying goodbye? Hey, wait you would have left me too! I thought we were your friends?” Zari looked hurt by that. That was something Nora had forgotten to consider, what the others would feel with her sudden departure. “Don’t do that, that’s a lame move.” She glared at Nora, huddling closer to her so she could continue with how Ray stopped her. 

“I’m sorry, Z. I’m still getting used to the fact that I have friends.” Nora apologized. 

“Don’t forget again or I will smack you.”

“Noted. Anyways, since Ray was there, I figured I could at least get closure, you know? So I told him that he was my best friend, but I wanted more than that. I wanted to be with him and I couldn’t, I thought that he was still in love with Kendra. Apparently, everyone neglected to tell me that she was married to her soulmate.”

“The Legends have never been the most thoughtful people when they get excited.” A voice interrupted their girl talk. The two turned and saw Kendra approaching them with a smile on her face. “You must be Zari and Nora. I haven’t actually met you two officially.”

They shared a look between the two of them, “I’m Zari, I have wind powers and I like to eat.” She summarized herself in as few words as possible.

“I’m Nora, former bad guy and now a Legend.” 

“If the Legends adopted you and Ray Palmer is as in love with you as we all know he is, then you must not have been so bad. He would  _ not  _ stop talking about you yesterday.” That surprised Nora, that’s what they had been talking about the whole time? Her? “He told Carter and I about ‘The Pancake Incident’ and I’m sorry, but that was hilarious.”

Nora was mortified. “I’m going to kill him.” She promised, grumbling about how Ray was spreading horrible lies about her when he should love her.

“No you won’t. He said he had a blast having a pancake batter war with you. And that Zari blasted the both of you with her totem to get you both to stop but ended with making a huge mess of the kitchen.” Kendra laughed at that, wishing she could have seen the looks on everyone’s faces in person instead of hearing it through a story. “I’ve been excited to meet you. I could have sworn you two were engaged with how he talked about you though, Nora.”

“Ah, no. We just got together last night.”

“I’m glad!” Kendra looked genuinely happy for her and Ray so it was hard to not want to be happy with her. “What about you, Zari? Ava said you were sort of something with Charlie?”

Zari lit up, “Yeah, She and I are working things out. We love each other but are gonna really talk about it all today. Meaning… I should probably get back before she goes into panic mode if she wakes up and I’m not there.”

“Too late.” They all turned and saw Charlie at the entrance way, the look of relief plain as day to all of them. “Come back to bed, love.” Zari went happily, saying a quick goodbye to Kendra and Nora before tucking herself into Charlie’s side as the two made their way back to Zari’s room.

Nora loved it, she was truly excited for her best friend. “I better get back before Ray freaks out as well, I’m glad I officially got to meet you.” She held her hand out for Kendra to shake but was pulled into a hug instead. 

“Don’t be afraid to reach out if you ever want to hear stories about Ray, I have a few that none of the other Legends can match.” The teasing tone intrigued Nora, now she would definitely want to be friends with this woman. “And I’m glad I got to meet you, don’t be a stranger and invite me to the wedding!” Kendra called out as she left the kitchen, not seeing the blush that made itself known on Nora’s cheeks.

Marrying Ray Palmer would be an absolute  _ dream come true,  _ it probably won’t happen for a while but damn, if she could marry him today… She would definitely be Mrs. Nora Palmer without a doubt. That was all she thought about as she walked through the ship to get back to her… not quite boyfriend. They’d forgotten to discuss that in favor of spending quality time together. She’d have to fix that as soon as possible, take a page from Charlie and Zari to talk about their relationship.

Back at the room now, she saw Ray sitting up on the edge of the bed, tragically wearing pants but looking delightfully rumpled nonetheless. He pouted when he saw her, reaching forward for her to come closer. Her heart flipped, pleased that he still wanted to be close to her. Ray pulled her into his lap so she was now straddling his thighs, his arms securing around her waist and he laid his head on her chest, sighing happily.

“Good morning, Mr. Palmer.” She grinned, tangling her hands in his messy hair. “I think you need a haircut.” 

“Mmm.” He hummed, happy to have her back in his arms and the two of them snuggling. “Later. Warm.”

Nora let out a laugh at that. She always thought he was a morning person, but apparently they were all fooled by the sunny disposition he wore. Her hands slipped out from his hair, lightly running down his back where she had found several bruises last night when their activities had wrapped up. Most of them had been handled by Gideon but she had used her magic to heal them up since she was already there to tend to the scratches she had left.

“Speaking in single words?” She came back to the present, Ray whined when she went to pull back from him. “Well, wake up a little more. I want to talk about us.” His arms tightened more as worry etched across his face. “No, No don’t worry. I just wanted to make sure that it’s okay that I call you my boyfriend.” Nora rushed to set his mind at ease, not wanting him to panic.

The joy that emanated from him was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. “You’re my girlfriend. And you love me?” He had to check, just for good measure, make sure this was absolutely what she wanted.

Nora smiled, cupping his face as she pressed their foreheads together. “I truly and deeply love you Ray Palmer.” She said, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, the both of them unable to help smiling into it.

Oh, how she loved him, she loved him more than anything else in her life. He loved her, loved her even before she was a good person. He loved her when she had been in prison, keeping her sane and fighting for her every chance he got to her freedom. Ray had given her a chance at life, at happiness, and at love. There was nowhere she’d rather spend it than with him by her side. Forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Please let me know what you thought or come shout at me on tumblr at superstitious20!


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